Beauty and the Beast except
by Lady Hallen
Summary: ...Belle fails, the Beast Dies.


**Warnings: Major Character Death**

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Can you imagine what would happen if Belle had failed to unravel the Enchantment?

The castle would be in ruins, the tapestries losing their luster. There is a strange assortment of antique, novelty items by the front door. The green would slowly encroach the building, little by little preying loose the stones and covering them with vines.

The townspeople would forget and move on, only knowing that there is a strange castle near, where you can hear the echo of sad music.

The only one who would remember, was Belle.

She would climb down the tower, slowly, carefully, because the steps were crumbling and there was no candles or torches to light her way. Her feet hurts, but she doesn't care. Everything is quiet and she never knew how much she listened to the quiet whispers of the animate objects until they were silenced forever.

"Is it forever?" she would whisper. The silence seems like glass, about to shatter if she speaks too loud.

"Enchantments aren't forever," the enchantress had answered. "You took too long. He waited and waited. But you took too long. You thought you were clever, foolish girl. He was hoping you would be clever enough. But apparently, you are just a farm girl with delusions of grandeur."

It was cruel. The most cruel thing the enchantress could have ever said. Belle does not cry. She had cried enough when the Beasts body had gone cold. But she feels something in her go quiet.

"I tried!" she says, vehement. "I tried to understand! But how can I when he barely answered me anything!"

The enchantress sneers at her. "That meant that you weren't asking the right questions, moron."

The beautiful woman vanishes, taking with her Belle's hope of anything happening to bring her friends back to life.

With a sob, Belle crumples by the ruined door and tries desperately not to cry. Instead, what comes out of her mouth are the keening cries of a wounded beast.

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The only thing in the entire castle that survives after the enchantment runs through, are the books.

The castle itself crumbles, the curtains slowly crumbling to dust. Everything starts to go stale and whatever magic kept the food goes away and there is a bevy of animals that attack the pantry. It made sense, given that it had been eternal winter outside of the Beasts castle and the animals had adapted. The surplus of food seems to surprise them though, and they all abate after a couple of days.

Belle hides in the library.

It still seemed a magical place, holding an untold number of books and echoing in its vastness. The magic to keep it together holds, however, and Belle stays there.

At first, she thinks it's because of her. That is foolish, because she's only a farm girl. She finds what is holding the library together after a curious wolf had sniffed at the door and sent her running.

There is a hidden shelf by the winding stairs, and the titles on the books tell her everything.

" _Shields: A beginner's guide_ ," she reads out loud. Her voice is not the bell-like tone that had so enchanted men. It is hoarse from disuse. " _Dowsing: what to do when your well is misbehaving_."

Excitement courses through her before crushing self-hatred does it. If only she had seen it before. If only she had found this shelf, and she would have understood what enchantment was all about. If only she could have saved the Beast from such terrible magic.

'If only's' are terrible and she banishes it from her mind, along with where she keeps the precious few memories she has of the Beast, her father and the previously animate objects.

She would study. She would study until she knew everything about Enchantments. Until she could identify them in her sleep and know how to break them.

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The villagers's arrival is like a shock of water being dumped over her head.

Of course, she realizes. Of course they would try to scavenge anything from the castle. She knows best of all that small rural villages need to recycle everything, unless the next of kin said to save it for being a family heirloom.

Everything is scarce and saving is important.

She hides under the tables, welding the library doors shut and holding her breath. She had already taken the strange assortment of objects near the castle door. For anyone else, they could sell it for money. They were the bodies of her friends and she had long buried them.

They try to open the door.

For however long it took, Belle holds her breath and does not dare make a sound.

Eventually, they leave.

Belle roams the castle when they are gone and weeps at all the ransacked rooms.

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She learns and learns, and one day, she casts her first spell.

Belle does not scream, or cry. But she does shake. What would her dear Beast say if he sees her dabbling in magic?

She loathes it, but she practices it.

When she manages to learn everything from the Beast's library, she thinks about packing all the books and leaving. But she realizes that if she leaves with the books, there's a chance that the magic holding the library together would fade and the entire collection would suffer for it.

With a reluctant sigh, Belle packs her meager belongings and leaves the castle.

She had learned everything and now, she needed to help other people with her knowledge.

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 **Welp.**

 **Reviews please.**


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